Emilia Richeson isn’t a fitness guru. She’s a queer punk ray of sunshine who grew up as a misfit in a small town in Vermont in the 90’s, finding her people through a shared love of underground music: Goth, Punk, New Wave, Brit Pop, and Synth Pop. She loves to dance.

In 2014, Emilia found herself in Los Angeles, out of the bar and club scene but desperately missing the dance parties. She started making up dance routines to her favorite songs in her bedroom and sharing them with her close friends. They encouraged her to start a class, and Pony Sweat was born.

“Pony Sweat,” says Emilia, “is not about looking cool or put together or doing anything perfectly.” As a kid who grew up terrified of gym class and feeling terribly awkward in dance classes, she wanted to share with others the confidence that dance aerobics finally gave to her. Pony Sweat, she says, is about learning to trust in your body and practicing radical self-love. It’s about expanding a circle of friends, growing community, and knowing that whoever or wherever you are, you are not alone.

In addition to running Pony Sweat, Emilia is an actor, performer, and a member of Los Angeles based feminist art-punk band Object As Subject.

CJ Miller is a musician and visual artist living in Los Angeles. She is a member of sociopolitical agitators, the "Clueless" soundtrack-worshipping punk upstarts, dimber. As a trans woman she is no stranger to having felt a lack of confidence in her own form, the waves of doubt in her body's abilities and movements. Finding Pony Sweat helped her combat these mental and emotional trappings, discovering the power that comes from loving and challenging your own physicality. She dances proudly, fiercely, and defiantly. And she sweats.